Saturday, May 17, 2008

Y'all Come Now, Y'hear?

-- by Sara

In about half an hour (2:00 PDT, 5:00 EDT), I'll be hosting the FDL book salon. I'm kind of excited about it -- particularly given that I've been discussing the coming generational shift for a while now, and 2008 is shaping up to be the year we finally get it.

My guests, Morley Winograd and Michael Hais, have written entire book on this shift -- what's creating it, how the Democrats can best navigate it (and how not to screw it up), and what it means for the next 40 years of American politics. Their thesis draws on William Strauss and Neil Howe's saecular theory of history, which is the theory that got me interested in futures in the first place. After all these years, it's still got more predictive value than any other theory I've encountered, and Millennial Makeover shows in very concrete terms how that theory is playing out right now.

Sara Robinson has worked as an editor or columnist for several national magazines, on beats as varied as sports, travel, and the Olympics; and has contributed to over 80 computer games for EA, Lucasfilm, Disney, and many other companies. A native of California's High Sierra, she spent 20 years in Silicon Valley before moving to Vancouver, BC in 2004. She currently is pursuing an MS in Futures Studies at the University of Houston. You can reach her at srobinson@enginesofmischief.com.